The Ph.D proposal:
My Hero: Televisual Epic, National Identity, and Torchwood's Fan Audiences
Melissa Beattie
Ph.D proposal
To say that something is 'epic,' in its modern, colloquial usage tends to merely mean something of wide scope, frequently high-concept, and of long duration. In more literary terms, epic is a specific genre going back millennia. This study will not only show that long-running British sf/fantasy serial Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures function as a modern, televisual expression of this literary form, but will also examine how Torchwood-as-epic interacts with both British and Welsh national identities by drawing both on historical precedents and contemporary research. This will be accomplished through examining the relationship between the series-as-text and fan audience.
Classic Doctor Who has been described as a saga, and the Doctor as a Romantic hero (Tulloch & Alvarado, 1983: 3, 134-143); both of these genres are heavily influenced by the older epic form. (Miller, 2000: 48-52). Thus, the study will begin by establishing the 'epicness' of the three interconnected series. This will include examination of epic elements in Doctor Who, Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures in order to establish the three series as an interconnected epic work. The focus will then narrow to the epic elements and nature of Torchwood (and relevant episodes of Doctor Who) and how they connect with the historical epic traditions of Wales, e.g., Classical epic as imported from the Romans, local folklore transmitted by bards (e.g., the Mabinogion), the Arthurian Romances, Biblical epic, etc. These include inclusion of supernatural/mystical elements and characters, usually protagonists (e.g., Captain Jack Harkness), overarching, interconnected, yet loose, narrative and character arcs, and certain epic motifs such as the 'quest' (e.g., the brief search for the resurrection glove in 'Dead Man Walking'), trips to the Underworld or other supernatural places (e.g., 'They Keep Killing Suzie,' 'Dead Man Walking,' and any other episodes where death and resurrection are discussed, also the Rift itself), attempts at finding 'home' and/or 'family,' as well as loss of same (e.g., the familial and romantic constructions in Torchwood), displacement (e.g., Jack being a displaced person in both time and space), etc.
Though all of the series have elements of fantasy, it is the adult-oriented Torchwood which has both the most mystical elements and consequently, the most tension between mysticism and science. As Wales is often associated with the mystical, (Jones, 1992: 331-334; Stephens, 1992: passim, inter alia), the mythic and/or Gothic elements represent another aspect of 'Welshness,' and it is often the Welsh characters who are involved in these particular plotlines. How the tension between mythico-religious and more scientific viewpoints functions will be examined as a reflection of changing contemporary Welsh beliefs, as well as being used to illustrate the shamanistic elements of the overall epic narrative, such as Jack Harkness as a Christ analogue and the differing reactions of the Welsh characters to the more mystical aspects of the series.
This project will view the fan audience as an active one, which runs the gamut from those who watch for entertainment but still discuss the show in casual social interaction (as in Gillespie, 2003: 315-321) through those who actively engage with the narrative, such as those who write fanfiction, attend conventions, play games and/or cosplay, etc. Lancaster's work on fan interaction, especially games, and the televisual epic Babylon 5 is a similar idea to looking at conceptions of the multiple levels of reality provided, which he terms 'immersive performance.' (Lancaster, 2001: passim). Gwenllian-Jones' (2003: 185-191) discussion of how the temporal remove of Xena: Warrior Princess allows for an analysis of contemporary issues will also be used to contrast the levels of realism in Torchwood, both the contrast between modern Cardiff life as expressed in the series and the reality constructed by the Torchwood team for themselves, and the expression of social issues within the series, e.g. class issues, socio-political inequalities, etc.
One of the more frequent areas of discussion about Doctor Who is of its 'Britishness;' for example, the Doctor, in all of his incarnations, represents some facet(s) of both traditional and contemporary British society. (Chapman, 2006: 5-9; Tulloch & Alvarado: passim). With regard to Torchwood, creator Russell T. Davies has said that he desired to increase the presence of the Welsh voice on television ('Everything Changes,' DVD Commentary, 2007) which both expresses a more broad-based view of Britishness as a whole but also an intent to express and promote the distinct Welsh identity. The series also features two regular and two recurring Welsh characters, as well as most often being located in South Wales. This broader view of what British identity means in contemporary society also makes a change from the noted 'playing for realism of performance' equalling a Romantic ideal of the character (Tulloch and Alvarado, 1983: 206) and the Doctor-as-aristocrat response noted in Tulloch and Jenkins (1995: 115). In order to examine all of these things, the relationship between the series and national identity will be analysed through the use of both desk-based research and ethnographic investigation. Investigative techniques will include traditional research (e.g., reading interviews with both production members and audience, with a particular eye to usage by politicians or in some socio-political context), as well as interview and survey. Potential focus groups would include Welsh, English and global (possibly Scots and American as well) fans, and respondents would be analysed in terms of age, gender, political affiliation, and perhaps sexual preference, given the latter's influence on the series; (Tulloch and Jenkins, 1983, xii); the fixed variable in the fluid nature of identity would be that the respondent identifies themselves as a fan of the series. Questions will focus on how they read the series and characters (e.g., do they think of Captain Jack Harkness as an American? A Scotsman, thus implying extratextual knowledge and incorporation of same? Someone from the 51st century, so an ethnic background doesn't apply? Which aspects of the Welsh and Wales are represented by Gwen Cooper? Which by Ianto Jones?) and how it relates to their conception of Wales and/or Welsh culture. The global fans will be asked about how the series has influenced their views of the UK and/or Wales, in order to address the fact that identity has both internal and external elements. (For identity and its fluidity, see, inter alia, Williams, 1989: 46-59; Thompson and Day 1999: 27-48; Weedon, 2004: 25-26; Bailey 2005: 159-160, 163; Riley, 2007: 1-3). This entire investigation will determine how the series' dissemination in both domestic and global society influences national identity, in the same way as epic has historically.
As the media is so important in everyday life as both a reflection of and strong influence upon the society that produces it, the interplay between an epic narrative defined as being intrinsically Welsh and the development, propagation and evolution of national identity is important to observe. Given that, historically, epic has been used to both create and manipulate national identity, the interaction between the two cannot be overlooked.
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